The fresh breeze hurled past their bodies, and sent small chills all across.

The sun’s warm rays shine generously on their faces.

The woman’s long skirt is fluttering in the wind. She is holding close to her a little boy dressed in a blue color as deep as the ocean’s.

She is holding him away from the danger of the waves. She is afraid he will go too far.

This is a gesture.

A gesture of love.

One that the boy does not understand.

He is thinking that this woman will not let him go and enjoy rich dark waters of the ocean.

He watches the other children left unattended and wonders, Why can’t I be them? What makes them different?

The woman is still holding the delicate and tender arm of the young child.

A child that is not her own. She is only watching over him.        

She thinks, How long will this last?

Then she thinks long term.

She’ll go home tonight and she’ll see the boy tomorrow. But what about when the boy is older and without need of her help? When will she see him then?

She hopes the boy loves her enough to never let her go.

Never leave her sight.

After all, he has spent more time with her than he has with his own mother. Too selfish, she thinks, I’m being too selfish. This is my job and that is all.

But she is human. She cannot help but get attached to another. Especially another person she spends most of her time with.

She finds the fault in herself, when really,

it is human nature.

The boy does not realize the love this woman gives her will end someday. She will have to leave. He takes her for granted.

He then says “Nanna” in that sweet and innocent voice that floods the woman’s ear with love. She tries not to think of how much she loves him but hearing this, she realizes the vastness of it.

No words are exchanged. Only the love for one another flows both ways.

The boy stands in his caretaker’s warm grasp and watches the serenity of the waves and the gentle manner in which they approach him only to go back again into the distance.
The woman watches the boy who is watching this and takes pleasure in his awe.